Piaget in need of space
Barely six years after cutting the ribbon, Piaget has begun work on a 10% extension of floor space at its manufacturing site in Plan-les-Ouates. Further developments are already in the pipeline, in particular for the production workshops.
Christophe Roulet
"Each year, three tons of gold enter the production workshops and something like 20,000 watches leave, around a fifth of which have gold bracelets that have been machined on-site." The production manager at Piaget manufacture seems barely impressed by the abundance of precious metal that enters the workshops, opened in 2001. Understandably so. It’s been a number of years since the company that readily describes itself as a "sculptor of gold" gave up steel once and for all to centre production exclusively on gold in every colour.
Over in the production halls, home to some thirty CNC machines (for precision-turning, milling, polishing, etc.) which Piaget replaces every five years, each workstation is equipped to recover virtually every last gold shaving. These are then returned to the different foundries in exchange for metal that is suitable for watch production. This way, less than 1% of the total gold used is lost. Piaget is more than satisfied with this, just as it is with its stone-setting and fine jewellery workshops. Alongside these are the finishing, casing and assembly workshops that make the manufacture a fully-integrated industrial site that also includes the workshops in La Côte-aux-Fées, specialising in the manufacture of movements.
A multi-million extension
The production site isn’t Piaget’s only source of satisfaction. The company - established in 1874 - is riding a success that shows no signs of waning and already, just six years after moving in, is finding its new premises somewhat cramped. "As the brand grows, so do staff numbers and the original building in Plan-les-Ouates, designed like a watch "head" with parking spaces underneath a concrete crown and the manufacture itself set on an east-west axis like the hands on a watch, can no longer accommodate them all," observes Philippe Léopold-Metzger, CEO of Piaget. "We have therefore decided to extend floor space by around 10% from the current 8,500 sq m to just over 9,300 sq m. Most of this additional space will be given over to product development, marketing and training. In addition, plans have already been made to similarly extend the production halls as soon as the need arises."
A bridge straddling two imposing piers will cover the suspended walkway leading to the manufacture. It will surmount a large-span "cap" that will prolong the new surfaces. The extension, at a cost of CHF 5.5 million, has been entrusted to the architect Pierre Studer who masterminded the original project in which Piaget invested CHF 35 million. For him, the advantages are clear: "The rapid growth in the watch segment right now means that within the space of two to three years we can be building extensions. In this context, it’s perfectly feasible to decide which areas will be used for these future developments right from the original project." Piaget currently employs 360 staff in Plan-les-Ouates in addition to the 135 people who are employed at the movement workshop in La Côte-aux-Fées.
An expanding boutique network
Nor is this extension to its Genevan manufacture, scheduled for completion in 2008, Piaget’s only project. The brand continues to expand its network of own-name boutiques with openings planned in Beijing, New Delhi, Bombay, Baku, Abu Dhabi and Las Vegas. By March 2008, Piaget should be at the head of 56 own-name boutiques. Meanwhile, the brand’s flagship store in Geneva is being extended with additional space on a new floor. The company aims to continue in this vein and open around ten new Piaget points of sale a year. They will provide worthy settings in which to present the two hundred or so new watch and jewellery creations that join the brand’s catalogue each year.
And this is not all. As an additional highlight for its boutiques around the globe, Piaget is adding to its private collection. The foundations for this collection were laid some fifteen years ago and it has now grown into a heritage of some 700 creations, each belonging to the history of a manufacture which has distinguished itself thanks to its extra-slim movements (the 9P and 12P in particular) and fine jewellery models. "The aim is to retrace the outstanding phases of our past, for example Piaget’s collaboration with artists such as Erni, Picasso and Warhol, its pocket watches and its manufacture movements," continues Philippe Léopold-Metzger. "Pieces from the collection will form thematic exhibitions that will travel to our main boutiques, creating focal points with objects that are anchored in our DNA." At Piaget, the past has a definite ring of the future. ■
